What's in a number? Calculating the size of your image library

Beginning with Mac OS 10.6 Apple's Finder now calculates the size of your drive (internal and external) a bit differently than it did before. The idea now, apparently, is to provide the user with a number that appears "more accurate" than it might have before, when in fact the size reported in previous versions of Mac OS X simply allowed for a cushion.

For example, on a 2-tb external drive, my older desktop (OS 10.5.8) reports the space remaining as 1.07 while my laptop (with 10.6.5) reports 1.18 remaining. But, both machines report the same number of bytes, however (790 billion and change).  (By the way, a Windows machine reports the drive size the same way as the older Mac OS X.)

While I can't reproduce the complex explanations for how drive sizes are calculated (nor would I want to), suffice it to say that when you see your drive listed in Snow Leopard it attempts to provide you with a reading that is more in line with the accurate byte calculation. That is, 790 gigs used (to represent the 790+ billion bytes).

Now, aren't you glad you asked?

Previewing problems in Bridge CS4?

If you're having problems previewing images in folders you've previously indexed in Adobe Bridge CS4 try this:


1. In Bridge go to Edit>Find (Command+F)
2. Select the folder where the problem seems to occur most often (alternatively select all your image folders)
3. In the search criteria drop-downs select "keywords" and then type in the broadest keyword in your library, one that might cover all your images (such as your name, if you tag all your images that way  for example)
4. Make sure to check BOTH Include all subfolders and Include Non-indexed files
4. Click find and then walk away. Depending on how large your image library is, this might take a while (or overnight).


We've have found that using this method is one way to "clean up" any re-indexing issues that might arise in Bridge's caching process after months of re-indexing folders.


There are, of course, no guarantees so be sure to keep any eye on your caching numbers in the Library.

Adobe Bridge CS4 Previewing problem

It's been over a year since our department started using a central image library and, with only 2 or 3  minor issues, the print and web teams have experienced few problems accessing the photos using Adobe Bridge CS4. All machines have undergone both initial and repeated reindexing have produced no unexpected anomalies. Recently, however, several machines have begun to experience problems in loading previews of several recently uploaded folders.

Remember, our image library consists of a series of folders (by date), each with a varying number of images inside (but rarely over 2k or more images). Typically, once a folder of photos is cached (or "indexed) in Bridge, the program creates a separate subfolder for the thumbnails and another subfolder for the previews, all within Bridge's cache folders. (Located in the user's Library on a Mac.)

Initial indexing/caching creates all the thumbnails and previews for that one folder. Subsequent "recaching/re-indexing" only adds any additional metadata that might have been modified since the initial caching -- new images are almost never added to folders within the library.

Now, to the issue.

Beginning several weeks ago -- the timing is, unfortunately, uncertain - I began experiencing a preview loading problem on both the benchmark machines. (Two Macs, one desktop one laptop that serve as the most accurate and up-to-date sources for accessing the library.) The problem was first noticed in the search results window: previews appeared pixelated in the preview window and often remained that way. In addition, when attempting to review (or use the slideshow) feature, the images would often remain pixelated for some seconds or not load at all.

At first I thought this was isolated and temporary. But I then learned that several others were experiencing the same problem. (Only Macs, though. The two Windows machines, not overly used but one kept up-to-date, seemed fine.)

Modifying the preview generating option in the Path Bar made a short-term difference on a couple of machines, but the option was already selected on a couple of other machines exhibiting the loading problem.

When I began investigating the caching behavior of the problem machines, it soon became clear that the problem was deeper. By examining the cache folders inside of the Library cache folder structure, I could see that previews were not being generated even when the folder(s) were reindexed. In fact, I even tried purging and rebuilding the cache for several folders and watched the preview cache folder. I could easily see that not all the previews were being built and indexed.

The question now is why is this happening? The corollary is why is this happening on just a few machines? All the machines, it should be noted, are of the same vintage, and of robust features, and sharing the same OS and software.